Holly Recreation | Change Is Hard

Hey there! It’s me, Penny!

Mom posted that Wordless Wednesday picture of me in her big yellow tent and now I hear that all of you guys want to know if I went camping! Like in a real campground, not just hanging out in the tent in my own back yard.

Mom already knows I’m not real happy being in the tent in the back yard. I’ve only made it through the night once out there. Did you know back yards have lots of noises at night? And believe it or not, when you’re in a tent you’re expected to sleep on the ground!

Anyway, for some crazy reason only mom knows, she decided at the last minute to book three nights at the local campground, in site 16 which apparently is her favorite site. She says that my sister Katie loved to camp there and mom has lots of great memories of them spending time together.

*If I close my eyes I can pretend I’m back at home.*

I get that, but I remind mom that Katie was seven when she first went camping. I won’t even be four until December. I don’t know why mom thinks I’m mature enough to sleep through all the crazy night noises that come from all directions.

*I don’t really see the point of this, mother.*

Plus did I tell you I can’t see outside when I’m in there, all I can do is smell stuff and hear stuff and I can’t see stuff, so I’m very much not a happy camper.

Mom took me over to the campground, which luckily is very close to our house, on two afternoons. The campground was nearly empty, which mom thought would play to her advantage.

Mom is delusional.

It was still noisy and smelly even with hardly anybody there. Why the people in a neighboring site were burning stuff in some sort of pit and I could smell it! Geeze. I barked at their fire. And at just about every other thing I smelled or heard or saw.

I did love going on walks there. I don’t mind smells when I’m on walks, I actually like to sniff stuff while we’re walking. And there was lots of stuff to explore.

*I like this site, mom. Do you know why I like it?*

We went on lots of walks each day I was there. Mom thought she could make me tired enough to sleep through the night. In a tent. Right.

We walked around lots of loops of mostly empty sites. I picked out a couple that I liked a lot. Mostly because they didn’t have a big yellow tent anywhere in sight on them. I didn’t like hanging out at our site. I didn’t see the point.

I kept asking my mom if we could go home. She even fed me my dinner there hoping that would make me feel happier about being at the campground. I ate all my food and than I asked if we could please go home now.

*I’m still worried, but I never pass up a meal.*

The first day I was there mom thought maybe if we were in the tent I’d go to sleep. So we went to ‘bed’ at 7 p.m.!

I did sort of curl up in a few spots, but I didn’t go to sleep. Nope, no way.

And I constantly crawled back up on top of mom to ask if we could please go home now.

*Seriously, mom. This just doesn’t feel right!*

Eventually that first night she gave up and took me home to daddy at 8:30. Then she went back to camp without me. She said she felt very sad.

The third day she was there we tried again. I went on lots of walks and connected with trails in the woods too, which I just love.

Mom was hoping if we did more walks I’d be happier. I was, as long as I was on a walk and not at our camp site. Certainly not in the big yellow tent!

*I’m not even afraid of the noisy bathroom place!*

She could tell I wasn’t happy so she took me back to daddy at 5:00 and went back to camp all by herself. She was sad again.

*We’re going to have to have a discussion about this, mom.*

So….yes I was at a campground. And no, I can’t say I actually camped.

*I don’t know what mom sees in that big yellow tent.*

Maybe next year when I’ll be four and lots more mature. Maybe then I’ll agree to spend the whole night in the tent just because I love my mom, even if I don’t really love that big yellow tent.

We’ll see. For now I’m just glad that experiment is over! I give camping a 1 out of 10. And I only gave it a 1 because mom was with me.

*Let’s just stick with walks in the woods, OK mom?*

Sometimes I go camping just to have a few days away from everyday responsibilities. Time to nap and read and snack and daydream.

Sometimes I go camping with a specific goal in mind. I’m hoping to get that perfect Milky Way image, or find a new bird to photograph, or see a part of the state I haven’t seen before.

Last week, at the last minute, I got to reserve 3 nights in my favorite campsite at the local state park. It’s a spot where Katie and I camped many times. This trip I hoped to introduce Penny to campground noises.

*“Did I hear something over there, mom?”*

She’d been there for a couple visits last year, but it was all overwhelming to her, and even with her dad and me right there she was pretty nervous about all the people and cars and noisy trucks with trailers driving by.

*“Hey! What’s my tent doing out here in the woods, mom?”*

This year she’s older and wiser and a little bit calmer. Though she still looked when noisy things including people with their dogs walked by, she didn’t automatically come undone.

She was only visiting me for a few hours each day, and while she was there we took plenty of walks around the campground, letting her sniff the vacant spots…

…and moving swiftly past those occupied.

*“Nothing to see here, just protecting my bikes.”*

She even got to walk past a couple of pitbulls and their flustered dad. She was a rockstar.

See them coming around the corner up there? Penny’s tail was already up in alarm and I didn’t notice them until they were much closer. She knew right away. She never barked, she just heeled with me right by them.

We spent about an hour on her second visit inside the tent as evening fell. I think she would have been fine spending the night in the tent if I had insisted. But she was a little restless after an hour and if I’m honest, I wasn’t looking forward to packing up in the morning with her on site.

*“I guess this is OK mom. But daddy has air conditioning and a **bed.** Just sayin.”*

It takes me an hour to pack up without the distraction of a curious dog. But next time, if she’s willing I think we’ll spend the night in the tent. Maybe she’ll begin to understand it’s all an adventure and mom’s got her back.

*“Umm, excuse me mother, let me be clear. I’m **not** taking a shower.”*

The other reason I jumped at a chance to camp at this site is the opportunity to photograph birds. Every time I’ve been at site 16 there have been birds flitting around. Their images are hard to capture, they’re not like Kensington birds, posing for treats.

*A really poor image of a cardinal that swooped in and then out.*

These birds are never happy when they stop by and you’re at their site. I sat for hours, still in my chair, camera ready, and didn’t catch a good look at one bird, though I heard redstarts and vireos and wrens all around me.

*Mostly I got bird imposters like these brown leaves.*

Then this guy bounced out of the underbrush.

After looking at me he hopped up on a vine with his back to me. In a moment, though, he turned his head to make sure I got the shot, and then he took off.

I smiled, at least I got one decent image of a bird!

And then I noticed this little red squirrel looking a bit worse for wear. She skittered around the campsite and then disappeared.

While I’m looking for her, tossing a few blueberries in the direction she ran, a opportunistic chipmunk showed up, very happy with the blueberry offering.

*“Hey lady! You got anything to spare?”*

Meanwhile Ms. red squirrel, apparently a tired mom, was up in a tree at the edge of the campsite, happily chowing down on a nut.

She was happy until she noticed the chipmunk was feasting on blueberries.

That seemed to make her very unhappy. She watched the chipmunk more carefully. I tossed a few more blueberries. She was conflicted.

*“Wait! Those blueberries were for ME!”*

And then she ran as fast as she could down that tree and back out into the site where she scored a blueberry of her own.

*“That chipmunk got one, but he’s not going to get the rest!”*

It all made me smile.

Camping generally makes me smile, even when it rains, which it inevitably does at least one day on every camping adventure. At least this time it was overnight. And in the morning the sun rose again.

Time to get packing and head home. A little fuzzy girl was waiting for me to provide her next adventure. She’s kind of demanding that way. I don’t mind.

Till next time, site 16. Thanks for the new memories.

Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: Holly Recreation

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